Concept Product CP161-8 Bay 15mm E1.S SSD PCIe 5.0 UBM Mobile Rack for External 5.25" Drive Bay (4 x MCIO 8i SFF-TA-1016 8i)

[icydock_admin]

Concept Product CP161
8 Bay 15mm E1.S SSD PCIe 5.0 UBM Mobile Rack for External 5.25" Drive Bay (4 x MCIO 8i SFF-TA-1016 8i)

Product Page: https://global.icydock.com/product_436.html
Any product suggestion or new idea will be highly appreciated!
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Key Features​

• Supports 8 x 15mm / 9.5mm E1.S SSDs in a single 5.25" bay.
• PCIe Gen 5.0 x4 interface — up to 128Gbps per drive.
• Complies with UBM (SFF-TA-1005) backplane management standard.
• 4 x MCIO 8i connectors support PCIe bifurcation (x4/x2/x1).
• Compatible with Broadcom, HighPoint, Areca, and other HBA/RAID cards.
• Supports Hot-Plug drive swapping.
• Tool-less metal trays for fast and easy SSD installation.
• Front-panel green and amber LED indicators.
• BMC 5-pin interface for drive power/status control.
• Backplane ID jumper for multi-unit system management.
• Dual 40mm fans with optimized airflow and EMI shielding.
• Rugged, full-metal construction.

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[jc919]

Looks sweet.

Just want to know when the CP121 or this will come out... My NAS is at almost 90% and don't want to invest more into M.2.

 

[PM-Peter]

Looks sweet.

Just want to know when the CP121 or this will come out... My NAS is at almost 90% and don't want to invest more into M.2.

Hi jc919,

Thank you for your interest in CP121 and CP161. According to our development schedule, CP121 will be released earlier than CP161 in 2026Q1.

 

[Vimm]

This looks interesting. I've been looking for a way to connect lots of M.2 NVMe SSDs without using a ton of lanes I don't have. To build on that example with the Broadcom 9600-16i, could I connect just one MCIO port to use eight SSDs in x1 mode? Or, could I connect it straight to an MCIO 8i port on the motherboard?

I'd also need M.2 to E1.S adapters but I can live with that.

 

[icydock_admin]

This looks interesting. I've been looking for a way to connect lots of M.2 NVMe SSDs without using a ton of lanes I don't have. To build on that example with the Broadcom 9600-16i, could I connect just one MCIO port to use eight SSDs in x1 mode? Or, could I connect it straight to an MCIO 8i port on the motherboard?

I'd also need M.2 to E1.S adapters but I can live with that.

You would need to use a Broadcom 9600-16i card that supports UBM function in order for the lane splitting to happen.

Also, for 2280 M.2 NVMe SSD to 9.5mm E1.S SSD Converter, we are in progress of developing it and it is planned to come out around Q3 2026. Stay tuned!

Lastly, could you kindly share your intended use case with CP161? We are all ears

 

[Vimm]

You would need to use a Broadcom 9600-16i card that supports UBM function in order for the lane splitting to happen.

Also, for 2280 M.2 NVMe SSD to 9.5mm E1.S SSD Converter, we are in progress of developing it and it is planned to come out around Q3 2026. Stay tuned!

Lastly, could you kindly share your intended use case with CP161? We are all ears

I have some compact file servers that pair a Broadcom 9600-16i HBA (or similar) with two Icy Dock MB998SP-B cages (or similar), giving me sixteen SATA SSDs in a tiny package. With software RAID it's fast and affordable. Today M.2 NVMe SSDs are the same size, same price, and much faster than SATA, yet I can only connect four to my HBA (for example, with a MB873MP-B V2). With two CP161 cages I could connect sixteen M.2 SSDs and still get more speed than SATA or SAS, all in the same tiny package.

I suppose what I'd like best is a MB873MP-B V2 cage with UBM like the CP161. I've looked for years and nobody makes that!

 

[icydock_admin]

I have some compact file servers that pair a Broadcom 9600-16i HBA (or similar) with two Icy Dock MB998SP-B cages (or similar), giving me sixteen SATA SSDs in a tiny package. With software RAID it's fast and affordable. Today M.2 NVMe SSDs are the same size, same price, and much faster than SATA, yet I can only connect four to my HBA (for example, with a MB873MP-B V2). With two CP161 cages I could connect sixteen M.2 SSDs and still get more speed than SATA or SAS, all in the same tiny package.

I suppose what I'd like best is a MB873MP-B V2 cage with UBM like the CP161. I've looked for years and nobody makes that!

That is an interesting application. Would you mind show some picture of it for us to admire and yes, M.2 NVMe SSD are becoming more mainstream now even in the business setting.

We were initially going to go with MB873 with UBM, however, E1.S seems to take over the market faster than we expected. As a result, CP161 would be the way to go. With CP161 and our M.2 to E1.S converter coming out, you would be able to utilize M.2 in CP161

Lastly, you could sign up our newsletter for any upcoming product news on our website: www.icydock.com and scroll to the very bottom and at the right side, there is a newsletter signup section. See below:

 

[Vimm]

Here's one of my 2U servers with an Icy Dock MB998SP-B and three Athena Power BP-15827SAC cages (plus two HDDs in the middle). I'm building a new box now pairing a Broadcom 9600-24i with an Icy Dock MB516SP-B. It's cheaper than two MB998SP-B cages and has that nice big fan.

I love Icy Dock but their prices doubled during Covid and never came back, so now I can get three Athena Power cages for the price of one Icy Dock. That's a tough sell!

 

[icydock_admin]

Here's one of my 2U servers with an Icy Dock MB998SP-B and three Athena Power BP-15827SAC cages (plus two HDDs in the middle). I'm building a new box now pairing a Broadcom 9600-24i with an Icy Dock MB516SP-B. It's cheaper than two MB998SP-B cages and has that nice big fan.

I love Icy Dock but their prices doubled during Covid and never came back, so now I can get three Athena Power cages for the price of one Icy Dock. That's a tough sell!

That is a nice file server you have there. Keep up with the good work!

To answer your concern about price: With inflation affecting every industry, maintaining premium quality without increasing prices is a significant challenge. However, at ICY DOCK, we refuse to compromise. We believe that Quality and Innovation are what define us and make our products exceptional. When you invest in an ICY DOCK solution, you are paying for more than just a drive cage. You are investing in a brand’s legacy, dedicated service, and a hard-earned reputation. Most importantly, you are purchasing peace of mind—the confidence that your hardware is built to last and won't fail you when it matters most.

Should the unexpected occur, you are fully protected

1. Comprehensive 5-Year Warranty: Our long-term commitment to your hardware's reliability.
2. Expert Technical Support: Assistance is always just a phone call, email, or live chat away.

 

[Vimm]

I agree quality is worth paying for but that has its limits. IcyDock sells some unique products that no-one else does and there's a home enthusiast market out there with nowhere to turn, yet they're priced out. I would buy these because I collocate and space is a commodity, so being able to pack everything into one box is a huge asset. A home enthusiast won't spend $800+ on this though (in normal times), they'd just build a new storage box (and probably enjoy it).

Space is convenient but capability is key, and nobody makes this capability today. I firmly believe there's a market out there if you want it.

 

[juri1309]

Would you consider adding a second 5-pin BMC connector for daisy-chaining the backplanes?

When the product is available I'm considering purchasing three, but my motherboard,
and most motherboards in general, only have one 5-pin BMC connector for the backplanes.

 

[Alec]

Would you consider adding a second 5-pin BMC connector for daisy-chaining the backplanes?

When the product is available I'm considering purchasing three, but my motherboard,
and most motherboards in general, only have one 5-pin BMC connector for the backplanes.

Hi Juri1309,

Thank you for your suggestion.

For the current CP161 design, we plan to provide a BP number jumper on the backplane, allowing each unit to be assigned a different Backplane number in a multi-backplane system.

However, BMC daisy-chain support is not confirmed at this stage. While the BP number jumper can help identify different backplanes, direct BMC daisy-chaining also depends on the overall I²C / SMBus topology, addressing, bus loading, pull-up design, cable length, and the host BMC implementation. Therefore, adding a second BMC connector alone may not guarantee reliable multi-backplane management.

For systems that require multiple CP161 units to share a single BMC interface, a system-level I²C hub / mux architecture may be a more controlled approach, but this would need to be validated by the system integrator or motherboard/BMC provider.

At this stage, we will take your feedback into consideration and continue evaluating whether multi-backplane BMC management, including possible daisy-chain support, can be implemented reliably in the CP161 design.